A lot of the "magic" of Star Wars: The Force Awakens lay in the return of much of the original cast, but probably wouldn't be complete without the introduction to and interactions between new characters such as Poe Dameron, Kylo Ren, Finn, and Rey. However, according to director J.J. Abrams, that magic wasn't always there. During an interview at the Tribeca Film Festival, Abrams opened up about shooting the first scenes with John Boyega (Finn) and Daisy Ridley (Rey) onboard the Millennium Falcon, and how initially, the chemistry between the characters just wasn't there. Though Abrams says Harrison Ford’s injury — when a piece of the Millennium Falcon fell on his leg — was a frightful time, he revealed that in hindsight, it turned out to be a beneficial moment, allowing him the time him to rewrite the Finn-Rey dynamic.
“When I was on the set of the Millennium Falcon and we started to do work with Rey and Finn, the first time we did it, it didn’t work at all,” Abrams explained. “It was much more contentious. I didn’t direct it right. It was set up all wrong, and when Harrison Ford got injured – which was a very scary day – we ended up having a few weeks off, and it was during that time that I really got to look at what we had done and rewrite quite a bit of that relationship. So when we came back to work again, we actually just reshot from the ground up, those scenes. It was an amazingly helpful thing to get these two characters to where they needed to be.”
While Finn and Rey have a rather tumultuous introduction to one another in the film, their friendship turned out to be one of the best moments of the story. Are you looking forward to seeing more of the pair in Rian Johnson's Episode VIII?
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is currently available on Blu-ray, DVD, and for Digital HD download.
About The Author:
Matt is a graduate of the Ryerson University School of Journalism, and has been a fan of superheroes since he picked up his first comic book issue as a child. While he works as a professional musician, Matt has a massive passion for comic books, films and heroes, along with participating in discussion and debate with the CBM community.